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The Prime Minister, John Howard, has moved to match Labor's bolstering of its ranks with a surprise reshuffle of his ministry, bringing two new faces into cabinet in a high-stakes revamp tipped to put back the timing of the federal election.

Promoting the Sydney MP Helen Coonan from the relatively junior Revenue ministry to the Communications portfolio and the West Australian Ian Campbell to the high-profile Environment portfolio, Mr Howard acknowledged the shake-up was a bid to "invigorate" his ministry

The cabinet rejig is part of eight changes to senior posts finalised minutes before Mr Howard's announcement in Melbourne yesterday.

The changes take the number of women in cabinet to a record three and promote MPs in key marginal seats to junior ministry and senior backbench posts.

The reshuffle is also being seen as a response to the return of Kim Beazley to Labor's front bench as defence spokesman and follows a rush of announcements on important issues by the Government this week, including sending more troops to Iraq, an easing of restrictions on boat people and yesterday's backdown on a radioactive waste dump in South Australia.

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It came less than 48 hours after the outgoing environment minister, David Kemp, told Mr Howard of his decision to retire, the third cabinet minister to do so this year.

The Communications Minister, Daryl Williams, is also retiring after his predecessor, Richard Alston, quit earlier this year. Another departure at the election, the parliamentary secretary on foreign affairs, Chris Gallus, has also been replaced.

Mr Howard denied he was "clearing the decks" for an election campaign.

"The ship continues to sail on that very steady course."

He said he was not proposing any "major changes" to policy. The changes were necessary to maintain "continuity" - although the ministry would be looked at afresh if he won the election.

"There is always room for fresh blood," he said.

A spokesman for Mr Howard told the Herald last night that the rise of the women in the reshuffle "was done without the patronising use of quotas".

The Opposition Leader, Mark Latham, said the changes raised the need for Mr Howard to clarify his own plans.

"If he wins the next election, will he serve three years or, as most people expect, hand over to prime minister Peter Costello?"

Others to be promoted in the reshuffle are the Employment Services Minister, Mal Brough, who becomes Revenue Minister; the parliamentary secretary for defence, Fran Bailey, to Employment Services Minister; the chief government whip, Jim Lloyd, to Minister for Roads; backbencher Bruce Billson to parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs; backbencher Teresa Gambaro to parliamentary secretary for defence; and backbencher Kerry Bartlett to chief government whip.

The changes represent a sharp rise for Senator Campbell, who was appointed a junior minister less than a year ago. His appointment was seen as a reward for his performance in the roads portfolio and a necessary new West Australian figure to replace the Perth-based Mr Williams.

Some Liberals yesterday predicted that the arrival of new people on the front bench was likely to mean the election would be held later rather than sooner, although Mr Howard has let it be known he would call an election as soon he believed he could win it.

Government MPs also expressed concern about the risks facing new ministers grappling with new briefs during an election campaign. "It puts a lot of responsibility on some of those people so close to an election," one Liberal said.